B and I have always enjoyed dining-out and trying new restaurants. Our dining-out adventures have slowed down considerably since having children. We decided to hit Famous Dave’s for dinner tonight and the girls were so well behaved. There were kids everywhere and the girls really entertained just watching all the action around them. Imagine our delight when we received our bill and found that kids eat for free on Tuesdsay night. Yahoo! B has always joked that’s the only time he’ll take the girls out to eat and it just fell in our laps*. Ah, the small little joys of parenthood…

So, of course I was intersted to find out who else had ‘kids eat free’ nights. I came across this list. (If you use this list, make sure you check the restaurants site before you go – I haven’t verified all of them.)

Sunday
LoDos – $1.99
Lansdowne Arms – after 4 pm
Sunset Grill
Jose Pepper’s Authentic Mexican Food
Chartroose Caboose
Big D’s BBQ (Parker)

Monday
Brothers BBQ
Buffalo Wild Wings – $0.99 – 5-8 pm
C.B. & Potts
CiCi’s Pizza
Chartroose Caboose – after 5pm
Cinzetti’s – 5-9 pm
Fuddruckers – $0.99 – 5-9 pm
Gunther Toody’s
Rio Grande
TGI Fridays
Big D’s BBQ (Parker)
Bono’s BBQ

Tuesday
3 Margarittas
Black Eyed Pea – after 5pm
Brothers BBQ
Champps
Chick-Fil-A
Cinzetti’s – 5-9 pm
Denny’s – 4-10pm
Fazolli’s – $0.99 – 5-8pm
Fuddruckers – $0.99 – 5-9 pm
Lone Star Steakhouse
Perkins
Pizza Street
Planet Subs – after 4pm
Ponderosa Steak House – after 4pm
Big D’s BBQ (Parker)
Treo (& ½ price hamburgers)

Wednesday
Applebees – $0.99
Old Chicago
Rainforest Café – after 5pm
Big D’s BBQ (Parker)

ThursdayBuffalo Wild Wings
C.B. & Potts – $1.00
Big D’s BBQ (Parker)

Saturday
Lone Star Steakhouse – 11 – 4pm
LoDo’s – $1.99

EVERYDAY KIDS EAT FREE:
IHOP – $0.99 – 3-9pm
O’Charley’s Restaurant
Old Spaghetti Factory(with coupon from Kids Pages Magazine)

*I should note, B doesn’t avoid taking the girls out to eat because he’s cheap (cheap – no, a bit frugal – yes!). He avoids it because he thinks they waste the food and he can’t enjoy the meal because he’s worried they will bother other people in the restaurant. He’s frugal and respectful of other people around him – not bad qualities in a husband and dadda, not bad at all.

We were so relieved by the ease of our travels that B promised the girls some play time on their playground and ice cream! Nothing like a little bribery, I suppose. The girls did so well on our flights to and from San Francisco. They’ve restored our faith in family vacations.

I love how they put the phone up to their ear and rest it on their shoulder. Where do they learn these things? (Not from me – I’m a texter!)

Cute as a bug Dadda came through as promised with ice cream – well, a little bowl of orange sherbert. Annabelle was thrilled! Gwyneth is everywhere these days. She is crawling very fast, pulling up on everything, and finding her share of trouble. I can’t say this enough – she is at such a fun age. She’s a tough cookie and is finally giving Annabelle a taste of her own medicine. When Annabelle gets in Gwyneth’s way she just crawls right over her!Annabelle is a bit bossy these days but really what (almost) two year old isn’t? She decided we were going to play ‘nigh, nigh’ and insisted that I lay down on the floor with her and B cover us with a blanket.

We went out to San Francisco for a quick weekend visit with my sister, Stacy and her family. They had so much fun stuff planned for us and the girls loved every minute of it. My niece, Maeva is now almost 18 months old and Stacy is expecting her 2nd little girl in the fall.

Saturday morning we went to Gilroy Gardens which is an amusement park for children under the age of 5. The girls had a blast! Even Gwyneth could go on most the rides. I was worried Annabelle was going to be a bit of a chicken but she had a blast.

Gwyneth and Maeva on the carousel
Stacy & Maeva

Annabelle loved the flying fish!

Annabelle and Maeva on the twirling tubs. They got spinning pretty fast and when it was over they asked for “more, more, more!”.

Annabelle took Gwyneth for a spin on the firetrucks All 3 little girls got to drive cars.

Maeve in the 1st blue car, Annabelle in the green car, and Gwyneth in the yellow car.

I took Gwyneth by the waterfalls

Stacy took Maeva and Annabelle right through!

After naps we piled the girls into the stroller and headed down to the park. Gwyneth rode in her own stroller but she joined the big girls for this photo op. Annabelle and Gwyneth were given each other kisses and Maeva seems to be wondering what the heck is going on.

Annabelle took many turns down the slide.

Gwyneth mostly played in the sand.

Maeva taking a turn on the swings.

We headed back to the house for some more play time and a very delicious spaghetti dinner.
Gwyneth played with the leap frog table while the big girls ate their dinners.

After dinner, Auntie Stacy surprised the girls with cookies.

They enjoyed licking the frosting off the tops.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed to the California Academy of Sciences.

The girls really enjoyed watching the fish!

We headed home Sunday afternoon and the girls were perfect angels on the flight. We had a great trip and miss Maeva so much already! Unfortunately, Annabelle’s beloved Shmooze bear didn’t quite make the flight. We’re hoping we left him behind in Stacy’s car, but we have already received many requests for him from Annabelle. We hope he’s enjoying his extended visit with Maeva and will return home shortly.

We received the dreaded call from daycare….Miss Gwyneth was not feeling well. All but 2 of the babies in her class were vomitting. B picked her up right away and we spent the rest of the night snuggling with our sweet-but-oh-so-sick little girl. Even Annabelle felt sorry for her little sister and brought her toys and stuffed animals. Gwyneth couldn’t keep any solid foods or formula down so we just tried to keep her hydrated with pedialite (which mostly came up too!). Poor girl!

After dinner we let Annabelle indulge in a little tv time. She now requests “Wipeout” by name! She seems genuinely concerned when the contestants are getting ready to run across the obstacle course. “Uh oh”

But like her mom, she laughs and claps when they fall! We don’t let Annabelle watch a lot of tv but we have started to DVR “Wipeout” so if she’s good and eats all her dinner she can watch a little before bed. I guess some little kids watch Elmo & Dora, ours watches Wipeout! Hmmmm…..

This is definitely going to be trouble. I love my new camera and I proved it by taking about 200 pictures tonight. It’s just too easy…click, click, click. The shutter time is unreal and I seem to finally be able to capture all the many faces of Annabelle and Gwyneth!

Gus joined us for dinner tonight and I drove him and B crazy with all my picture taking. I told them it was just because it was my first night playing with a new toy but I’m not sure any of us really believed me.

I have a lot to learn about my new camera but here are a few of my favorites from tonight:

Thanks to B, the girls, and Gus for being my guinea pigs tonight!

Annabelle has become quite a fan of Dora the Explorer. We took the girls to the Live show and what fun they had! Once the lights started flashing Gwyneth was clapping and dancing. Annabelle was a bit more hesitant but as soon as she saw the familiar characters she screamed “Dorda”, “Boops” (that’s Dora and Boots, the monkey!) and started dancing too. Momma mistake for the day though was we got Annabelle a Dora doll and GG a Boots doll and of course they both wanted Dora. Lesson learned – buy two of the same to eliminate…well, minimize fighting. YaYa warned me to do this, but I guess I had to make the mistake for myself to truly learn.

“Yes!! Mom, you rule!”

At the big show

There was absolutely no picture taking at the show – the ushers were not messing around – so I had to wait until we got in the car to snap a photo. The girls were worn out and sound asleep before we left the parking lot! The show was a hit. Annabelle has been carrying around the Dora and Boots dolls since we left & even took them in the car and to bed with her. In the afternoon we were supposed to meet up with the Carlson family to visit the new Globeology exibit at the Wildlife Experience. Unfortunately, Baby Ben (that’s what Annabelle calls him – never just Ben. Always Baby Ben) came down with croup. The poor little guy and his dad spent the previous night in the ER and he received steriods. He is doing much better but we were afraid since we leave for San Francisco on Friday we shouldn’t risk getting together just in case he might still be contagious. The girls were disappointed not to see their buds as Annabelle has learned Jack’s name and asks for him often. Lesson #2 for the day – don’t tell the girls we’re going to see their friends until the minute we walk out the door. If it doesnt’ work out then Annabelle asks for them over and over again and then we spend the afternoon looking a the pictures on their blog . Thanks Jennifer for keeping up your blog! It keeps Annabelle entertained for hours but isn’t quite the replacement for seeing her pal Jack.

After some good naps (both girls and B included), we met up with Sarah and Mary Ann for a quick dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. The girls were really well behaved! Gwyneth ate non-stop and Annabelle did a pretty good job with her lasagna. They were all smiles and GG was very happy to see her Godmother. Sarah brought them sweet little ducks, a book, and hair ties. She sure does know my girls!

After a long and busy weekend it was time to head home and get ready for bed. The girls crawled around for a bit and even gave each other a few smooches. Such sweet little sisters.

Giving kisses

It was time to get the girls ready for bed when we heard the computer ring. Whoever could it be???

It’s LaLa and YaYa!!Annabelle was so excited to see them. She was laughing and dancing around! The webcam is such a great way to keep in touch with out of town friends and family. I miss my family very much and I’m so glad my girls get to know them even though they are not here to see them everyday. As you can see Annabelle is really into the calls and GG just likes to take it all in – as long as you don’t disturb her bottle time.

It took a little while to get the girls settled back down after the call but they finally went to bed and were sound asleep when their little heads hit the pillows. Lots of fun, but a busy, busy day!

First Saturday fun night was at the Fessler’s house this month. The Tyler’s were not able to join us because they were on a family camping trip. We missed them and look forward to getting the whole gang together next month.

The Fessler’s treated us to a wonderful BBQ and lots of fun for the kids. We had a great time! The kids were so funny – they ate their burgers, beans, and macaroni salad and ate lots of them. Cade was eating baked beans right from the serving bowl. Gwyneth did really well with her solid food too. She had veggie straws, beans, and strawberries. She’s such a good eater.

We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the gorgeous summer evening. Annabelle and Cade had a blast chasing each other around. After dessert, Annabelle and Cade got a quick bath – they were filthy! They were both so sweet crawling around with GG in their pj’s. They were screeching at each other and wore themselves out. What fun buds!

All clean and absolutely adorable together

GG is so happy to have the big kids crawling with her. She tried her best to keep up and she was loving every minute of it. She is quite the speedy crawler.

Annabelle thinks Cade is hilarious!

Sweeties!

Cade was a perfect little host and gentlemen to my girls.

The playground is complete! We have two very lucky, lucky girls. YaYa gave them a playhouse as an early birthday gift. It’s adorable. My favorite part is the sweet little front porch. Both girls love the house and when GG blocked the front door Annabelle just climbed out the window! These girls are going to have an absolute blast this summer playing in the backyard. We have THE place to be for playdates!

Chandler, Annabelle’s bud from daycare, joined us for a fun play day. Chandler’s family is moving so she spent the day with us so her parents could get their new house in order. She is such a sweet little girl. Annabelle and GG had so much fun playing with her.

The girls had naps and then spent most of the afternoon playing house in the backyard.

Relaxing on her new front porch

GG loving her new playground

How funny are these girls with their water, goldfish and cell phones?

GG’s turn to play house. She really liked to sit on the front porch. When she blocked the door, Annabelle and Chandler decided to just climb out the window!

Grandpa and Grandma Meyer joined us for dinner this evening. I picked the girls up from daycare and we all pulled in the driveway at the same time. B made us a wonderful dinner – BBQ chicken, potatoes, and corn on the cob. My husband can grill!! I love summer and all the wonderful dishes that he makes for us. We grill nearly every evening and I never get tired of it. Each meal is better than the last. If you’ve never had one of his steaks off the grill you just haven’t lived.

Today was swim day at daycare for Annabelle and Gwyneth is trying to give up her afternoon nap, so both girls were pretty beat. They enjoyed their visit with their Grandparents and were excited to show them their new play area out back.

Grandpa seemed to have as much fun as the girls